The Jenzabar Foundation Announces 2010 Student Leadership Award Winners

Lynn University Recipient of Heroic Leadership Award; the Millennium Campus Network Recipient of Social Entrepreneur Award

BOSTON, June 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Jenzabar Foundation today announced the winners of the 2010 Student Leadership Awards, recognizing ten student-led campus groups and projects that have made a significant contribution to better the world outside of their institutions of higher education. This year's Heroic Leadership Award will honor the students and faculty from Lynn University who lost their lives in the Haiti earthquake while on a humanitarian mission. The leaders of the Millennium Campus Network are this year's Social Entrepreneur Award recipients.

The ten Student Leadership Award recipients have exemplified a commitment to making a difference in the world either through ongoing activities or through the completion of a project during the 2009-2010 academic year. Award recipients will be honored at Jenzabar Foundation events taking place across the country, starting with a ceremony during Jenzabar's Annual Meeting (JAM) on June 2, in Orlando, Florida. Each Student Leadership Award winner will receive a $5,000 grant to continue their work. The ceremony will also recognize the second annual Heroic Leadership Award recipient and the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner.

The Heroic Leadership Award will honor the four students and two faculty members from Lynn University who lost their lives while on a humanitarian mission to help the people of Haiti. The president of Lynn University, Kevin Ross, will accept the award on June 2 on behalf of the Lynn University community.

The inaugural Social Entrepreneur Award will recognize The Millennium Campus Network's Co-Founder and Executive Director, Sam Vaghar, and the Chair of the Board of Directors, Will Herberich. MCN is a national network of university student organizations working to reduce extreme poverty and achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The MCN provides networking, funding, and national campaign opportunities to 37 member organizations on 17 campuses across Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Washington D.C.

"The accomplishments of each of these award winners are inspirational and the students involved are true leaders who have and will continue to make a real difference in their communities and the world," said Bob Maginn, Chairman of the Jenzabar Foundation. "We are pleased to support these student groups and their future endeavors along with the group of Lynn University students and staff that went to Haiti on the 'Food for the Poor' humanitarian mission. This group exemplified the ideals of student service, and we could think of no more deserving group to be honored for their sacrifices."

More than 350 individuals and/or student groups signed up for this year's awards. The Foundation selected the winning student groups based on their impact and mission; involvement on campus and in the community; and the potential for other institutions to emulate their model of service. The 2010 Student Leadership Award winners and their affiliated institutions are as follows:

• Berry College - Mount Berry, GA: The African SOUP (The Sponsorship of Orphans in Uganda Project)
  • The African SOUP helps provide for the basic needs of orphans so that they may grow in a healthy, hopeful environment, and eventually lead Uganda into a stronger, more stable future. The African SOUP works in conjunction with ELI (Experiential Learning International), a 501 (c) (3) approved non-profit organization, to wire money directly to Uganda where it is exchanged for basic necessities such as healthcare and food that are then distributed among the children of a local orphanage.

• Brigham Young University - Provo, UT: Grantwell
  • Grantwell is an innovative student-led group made up of 40 MPA students in the Romney Institute of Public Management at Brigham Young University. Grantwell serves as a laboratory where students can learn and experiment with meaningful projects that benefit the community and world around them. Grantwell aims to become the premier graduate-level experience for training future nonprofit leaders.

• Central Methodist University - Fayette, MO: Central Methodist University Champions of Character
  • The Central Methodist University Champions of Character Council promotes opportunity for all student-athletes; protects student-athlete welfare; and fosters a positive student-athlete image, while maintaining the core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program.  Champions of Character Council membership includes 16 student representatives, one from each varsity sport and athletic training, who organize community service projects with their teams consistently over the years.  

• Claremont McKenna College – Claremont, CA: Microfinance Task Force
  • The goal of the Microfinance Task Force is to promote awareness of development initiatives and support economic solutions to poverty. They seek to not only to educate, but more importantly, actively engage students in initiatives and endeavors in the area of economic development so that they may become tomorrow's responsible world leaders.  

• Flagler College – St. Augustine, FL: Flagler College's Students In Free Enterprise (Flagler SIFE)
  • Flagler SIFE prepares student leaders to create a better world for everyone. Their outreach programs are designed to create economic opportunity for others by helping them solve real world problems. Flagler College SIFE has developed the Containers for a Cause program that will use old shipping containers to start a new life for the homeless. The mission of Containers for a Cause is to address the underlying causes of homelessness by creating a transitional housing center with treatment and training facilities.

• Northampton Community College - Bethlehem, PA: New Orleans Spring Break Group
  • A group of NCC students spend their spring break visiting New Orleans, Louisiana, to volunteer their time helping to rebuild a community still in great need of repair after damage that still exists from Hurricane Katrina. Students provide hands-on assistance rebuilding and cleaning homes in New Orleans' ninth ward.

• Palm Beach Atlantic University - West Palm Beach, FL: The Rosemary Village after school project

Palm Beach Atlantic University students partnered with a local church to start an after school program in the inner city at a neighborhood community called Rosemary Village. The group's goals are to promote staying in school, give the children a positive place to build relationships and to encourage them to make wise choices for their future.  The youth pastor from the church and a group of Palm Beach Atlantic University students organize homework assistance, sports, board games, arts and crafts and other afterschool activities.  

• Springfield College - Springfield, MA: Springfield College Outreach Committee (SCOC), and College Sport Management Club
  • The Springfield College Outreach Committee (SCOC) was created to offer opportunities for undergraduate students at the college to increase their awareness and direct experiences with peoples in other countries who are challenged by forms of social injustice, in particular, issues of poverty and oppression in the third world. Each year in March, the students in SCOC spend their "alternative spring break" in service where they travel to southern Mexico to serve a community of indigenous people. The Springfield College Sport Management Club is a student led organization open to all students on campus, but more specifically geared to the sport management and recreation management department. The club utilizes intra-organizational techniques to fully involve the student body, and with the involvement of club members, they have facilitated many campus events including: Haiti Relief Fund and Lose the Shoes.

• Universidad Central del Caribe - Bayamon, Puerto Rico: Medicina Urbana
  • The Medicina Urbana organization at the Universidad Central del Caribe (UCC) adopts a broad-based framework to meet the health and social needs of highly vulnerable populations. As an extension of UCC's continuous commitment to its community, Medicina Urbana is an exemplary program serving marginalized populations both in Puerto Rico and abroad.

• University of Southern California and Project Books and Blankies - Los Angeles, CA: Project Books and Blankies Student Group
  • Project Books and Blankies is a literacy organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of other children struggling to learn to read or lacking the resources and support to develop their reading skills.  The Project Books and Blankies Student Group at USC is dedicated to getting more students involved in helping the youth, including The International Reading Festival, which was developed through a partnership between Project Books and Blankies and the ReadersPlus program at the University of Southern California.

About The Jenzabar Foundation

The Jenzabar Foundation issues grants to institutions of higher education and other charitable organizations with similarly aligned missions, and helps promote the activities of grant recipients within their communities and on a global level. The Jenzabar Foundation is a charitable and educational organization that received its initial funding from Jenzabar, Inc., but is now seeking financial support from the general public. Foundation grants are managed by the Foundation itself or through cooperating educational organizations. For more information please visit The Foundation Web site at www.thejenzabarfoundation.org.

SOURCE The Jenzabar Foundation